Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS: AUSTRALIA’S SKI COUNTRY 205
SPECIAL EVENTS Jazz fans should head for the Merimbula Jazz Festival
held over the long Queens Birthday weekend, the second weekend in June. A
country-music festival takes place the last weekend in October.
ACCOMMODATIONS YOU CAN AFFORD
Ocean View Motor Inn This pleasant motel has good water views from 12
of its rooms (the best are nos. 9, 10, and 11). The rooms are spacious and modern,
with plain brick walls, patterned carpets, and one long balcony serving the
top six rooms. Fourteen rooms have kitchenettes. All have showers. It’s a friendly
place. Breakfast is served to your room for A$7.70 (US$5) extra.
Merimbula Dr. and View St., Merimbula, NSW 2548. & 02/6495 2300. Fax 02/6495 3443. www.ocean
viewmotorinn.com.au. 20 units. A$66–A$120 (US$43–US$78) double (depending on season). Extra person
A$11 (US$6.50). MC, V. Amenities: Medium-size solar-heated outdoor pool; limited room service; babysitting;
coin-op laundry; nonsmoking rooms. In room: A/C, TV, kitchenette, fridge, coffeemaker.
6 The Snowy Mountains: Australia’s Ski Country ¡
Thredbo: 519km (322 miles) SW of Sydney; 208km (129 miles) SW of Canberra; 543km (337 miles) NE of
Melbourne
Made famous by Banjo Patterson’s 1890 poem “The Man from Snowy River,”
the Snowy Mountains are most commonly used for what you’d least expect to
happen in Australia—skiing. It starts to snow around June and carries on until
September. During this time hundreds of thousands of people flock here to ski
at the major ski resorts—Thredbo and Perisher Blue, and to a lesser extent Charlotte
Pass and Mount Selwyn. It’s certainly different skiing here, with ghostly
white gums as the obstacles instead of pine trees.
The whole region is part of the Kosciuszko (pronounced ko-zi-os-co)
National Park, the largest alpine area in Australia. During the summer months
the park is a beautiful place for walking, and in spring the profusion of wildflowers
is exquisite. A series of lakes in the area, including the one in the resort
town of Jindabyne, are favorites with trout fishermen.
Visitors stay at Jindabyne, 62km (38 miles) south of Cooma, or Thredbo
Village, 36km (22 miles) southwest of Jindabyne. Jindabyne is a bleak-looking
resort town on the banks of the man-made Lake Jindabyne, which came into
existence when the Snowy River was dammed to provide hydroelectric power.
Thredbo Village is set in a valley of Mt. Crackenback and resembles European-style
resorts. From here, the Crackenback Chairlift provides easy access to
an easy-grade pathway which leads to the top of Mt. Kosciuszko, which at
2,228m (7,308 ft.) is Australia’s highest peak. The mountain has stunning views
of the alpine region and some good walks.
SNOWY MOUNTAIN ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE From Sydney, take the Eastern Distributor road towards
Sydney Airport and turn right just before the planes, following the signs to Wollongong
and then Canberra, via the M5 motorway and the Hume Highway.
Follow the Hume Highway south to Goulburn, where you turn onto the Federal
Highway toward Canberra. From there take the Monaro Highway to
Cooma, then follow the Alpine Way through Jindabyne and on to Thredbo.
Chains may have to be used on the slopes in winter and can be rented from local
service stations. The trip takes around 6 hours from Sydney with short breaks.
Qantas (& 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) has daily flights from
Sydney to Cooma. A connecting bus to the ski fields takes about 1 hour and